How Corrupt Is Connecticut?

With the recent arrest of New York Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver on corruption charges, coming on the heels of former Virginia Gov. Bob McDonnell’s indictment on charges that he accepted illegal gifts, there’s some question about which state has the most corrupt politicians.

The list of Connecticut politicians accused or convicted of corruption is long and storied, and even the New York Times once called us “Corrupticut.”

Connecticut didn’t rank high on anyone’s list. In fact, the Center for Public Integrity, even while listing a rogues’ gallery of disgraced Connecticut politicians, ranked Connecticut the second-least corrupt — behind New Jersey.

The 2012 University of Illinois study, which counted federal public corruption convictions from 1976 to 2010, ranked Connecticut No. 29 of all states, with 0.78 convictions per 10,000 population.

That same analysis ranked Louisiana at the top of all states, with 2 convictions per 10,000 population. The least corrupt were Washington and Oregon.

The District of Columbia, with 16.7 convictions per 10,000 population, stands alone.